To keep a promise
by spymains
Summary: Some would say dwelling on the spirits of the dead is unhealthy, but he would tell you otherwise. A friend long dead, and a promise made even longer ago are all that keep the boy going. Oneshot.


Some would say it is unhealthy to dwell on the spirits of the dead, but it is all that keeps the boy going, a promise he made long ago, to a friend long dead. He rests his eyes upon the eight tier gate that leads to the base of the tallest mountain in Unova. Getting it's name from the pantheon on its summit, a place where ancient Unovans gathered to worship the Victini.

Before he enters he is forced to sign a waiver and present all of his badges, they ask if he would like to stop, but the boy has come too far to stop now, and he is no longer a boy, he hasn't been since even before he got his hands on his first gym badge. And now he has sets of eight from half the regions known to man, he walks up the granite stairs, and he fights through Victory Road, Trainer and wild Pokemon alike unable to stop him for even a moment. His team, so different from what he started with, is it even the same team? The ship of Theseus would blush if it saw what his team had gone through to get this far, all the death, all the tragedy.

And so the boy summits, he brushes off reporters and League officials alike, he is there for one reason and one reason only. He will win, even if it kills him, even if it breaks him more than he's already broken.

First is the master of the ethereal and supernatural, the woman who has made a fortune writing of her own journey to the top. At first Shauntal's intangible Pokemon and obtuse strategy pose a challenge, her Chandelure in particular, but eventually it is overcome by a barrage of Dark Pulse's from the boy's Shiftry, and the antisocial author gives him leave to challenge the next of her comrades.

Then comes the man who styles himself the master of the dark and mysterious, with speed and power he has made a name for himself, along with a cold and calculating battling style. Grimsley too, poses a challenge at first, his Tyranitar is a tank, immovable, and incredibly fast for something of such stature. But even it cannot stand before the overwhelming power levied by the boy's Machamp, a creature with strength enough to pick up the two hundred kilogram Tyranitar as if it weighed nothing.

Next is a man who might be Grimsley's antithesis, Marshal is known for similar reasons as the boy, overwhelming power. His Pokemon are some of the physically strongest in the known world, but what is physical strength in front of a psychic as powerful as the boy's Gardevoir? His Pokemon are taken apart in front of him, caught mid air and trapped mid strike, attacked in the confines of their own minds, they are unable to leverage their godlike power against the boy's team. Only his Scrafty poses any real challenge, and it even manages to damage Gardevoir enough to force the boy to switch out, but the the Pokemon with the faux mohawk lasts less than five minutes against the Noctowl that follows the psychic.

Last is another job for the boy's Shiftry, his loyal partner for over two years, a blind spot for Caitlin's psychics. It is fast, faster than any non psychic attacks Caitlin can muster at least, with her greatest strength neutralized, the legendary elite is limited to Thunderbolt's and Focus Blast's. After a somewhat drawn out battle, in one final Feint Attack, the Alakazam falls and the famous narcoleptic is defeated. She lazily tosses him a key card, to be used on the back of any of the elite's chambers to allow a challenger to visit the mountain's true summit.

And so he climbs the final staircase, into the ancient renovated pantheon. There he faces a girl even younger than he is, and together they battle intensely, a team of draconic monstrosities against what's left of his own party. They battle valiantly, the girl's Salamence truly lives up to its reputation, but not even the monsters who were once venerated as gods in Opelucid culture are enough to stop the boy's Azumarill, the ancient beasts are barraged by Ice beams and Blizzards until Iris has no choice but to concede.

He has done it, what he had set out to do two years ago. But when Iris gets ready to lead him into the hall of fame he shakes his head, tells her that he has to do something else first, that he will be back tomorrow and reaches for a Pokeball, releasing his trusted psychic. He grabs onto his Gardevoir's hand, he didn't have to say anything, he's had her teleport him here before.

When his ears are done popping from the altitude change and he's gained his bearings he makes his way through the town, getting a sense of direction from the giant radio tower in its north western corner. He makes his way out of the town, out eastward to a clearing full of headstones the boy had bought with his winning several months ago.

Leaning against each headstone is a framed picture, the oldest one of is a younger boy with a Snivy, showing off a shiny new trainer's license. After that is the same boy, with a Taillow and Mareep, sitting together in a Pokemon Centre. And then, there is a framed newspaper clipping of the boy with a Growlithe and Psyduck, fighting fiercely against Cheren of Aspertia, for his first badge. There are over a dozen of them, of the boy posing happily with Pokemon who are suspiciously absent from his Championship team, all leaning against the stones. In front of each photograph he lights a candle that he pulls out of his bag, and then he releases his team to sit around him, and he begins telling his fallen friends about his challenge, and his victory, he tells them that he honored the promise that he made the Snivy, the very first member of his team, he defeated the League. He did it all for them.

 _Hey all! This is just something I felt like writing, wrote it in about twenty minutes so it's probably god awful. It's about a Nuzlocke run I did about a year ago and recently reloaded the ROM for nostalgia's sake, writing this gave me a couple ideas so I might follow through with something, maybe write another oneshot or two about the the run I did._

 _PS: Yes, the town is Lavender town, that is what I'm referencing with the radio tower._


End file.
